Changes will be seen in the Supreme Court Collegium as soon as the new session starts

As soon as the Supreme Court resumes its proceedings after the summer vacation, it will also witness many changes. The Supreme Court will have a new process of listing and mentioning cases with a computerized roster. Besides this, there have been changes in the Supreme Court collegium, with two new members joining after the retirement of two existing members during the summer vacations. Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant have joined the collegium in place of Justice KM Joseph and Justice Ajay Rastogi. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud heads the collegium along with Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Justices Khanna, Gavai and Kant are expected to become future Chief Justices of India on the basis of seniority. Justice Khanna will replace CJI Chandrachud on November 24, after whom Justice Gavai and Justice Kant will become Chief Justices.

The collegium, consisting of the CJI and his two immediate predecessors, recommends names for appointment as high court judges. The other senior member of the collegium, Justice Kaul, is due to retire on December 25, 2023. With three more judges set to retire this year, the Supreme Court, at present, is functioning with 31 judges out of the sanctioned strength of 34. Three more vacancies by the end of the year. Justice Krishna Murari, S. Ravindra Bhat and Sanjay Kishan Kaul are the judges to retire by the end of the year.

Recently, a new roster of work and a revised procedure for listing and mentioning cases were introduced in the Supreme Court. The new roster system takes into account the case inflow, pendency and domain expertise of judges. In view of the large volume of civil, criminal and service matters, additional judges have been appointed to handle these matters. To expedite the disposal of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) related to oil matters, a bench headed by the CJI and the two senior-most judges will primarily hear them.

The Supreme Court is implementing an entirely new procedure for listing and mentioning new cases before the Chief Justice of India. Under this system, all verified fresh miscellaneous cases received till Tuesday will automatically get listed for the next Monday, while cases verified after Tuesday will get listed for the next Friday. Advocates desirous of getting empaneled before the scheduled dates have to submit their mentioned proforma by 3 PM to ensure that their cases are taken up for hearing on the next day. For urgent list on the same day, the proforma along with the urgency letter has to be submitted by 10:30 am. Thereafter, the CJI will decide on the listing at lunch time or as required by the circumstances.